Diagnosis and treatment
A mum from Epsom has completed a charity challenge to raise funds for The Sick Children’s Trust, after it provided vital support when her
son was rushed into hospital.
Lee Adams took on the charity’s Long Walk Home, covering 50 miles throughout June and raising £555 to support Stevenson House, the ‘Home from Home’ where she stayed when her two-week-old son, Ari, was admitted to hospital.
After suffering with cold symptoms for a couple of days, Ari’s breathing became laboured before stopping completely, turning purple. Lee gently shook him awake and got him breathing again, before rushing him to Epsom Hospital herself.
On arrival at A&E, the triage nurse took one look at Ari, picked him up in her arms and rushed him straight to the children’s ICU, where he was given breathing support through a CPAP machine. He was diagnosed with severe bronchiolitis and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). As Ari’s condition worsened, he needed to be ventilated and transferred to a children’s paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for specialist treatment.
With no beds available at local PICU units, Ari was taken by the Children’s Acute Transport Service to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel — a two-hour drive from their family home. Lee and her husband, Scott, followed Ari to London, where he was closely monitored.
Support from The Sick Children’s Trust
Lee and Scott spent the night in temporary accommodation at the hospital before looking to stay at nearby hotels. However, The Sick 
Children’s Trust offered them a room at Stevenson House, completely free of charge. Located just a short walk from the hospital, the ‘Home from Home’ made sure they could always be by Ari’s side throughout the six days he received treatment.
Ari spent a further week back at Epsom Hospital before returning home. To thank the charity for its support, Lee took on the Long Walk Home to raise vital funds. Lee said:
“I’d never been more scared in my life than when Ari stopped breathing. All the hospital staff are trained to remain calm in serious situations, so when I saw how worried the A&E nurse was, it was terrifying. We honestly didn’t know if he was going to make it through the night.
“With all the beds at our local PICUs full, we didn’t know where Ari was going to end up. After that first night at the Royal London Hospital, we had no idea where we would stay. All we cared about was Ari. Trying to sort a hotel or driving back home every day was the last thing we wanted to think about — and we couldn’t make any long-term decisions because we didn’t know how long Ari would be in hospital.
“That’s why The Sick Children’s Trust was so vital — we had somewhere to stay just minutes from the ward. With Ari being so small, I’d never been away from him before, so that closeness made all the difference. Not only that, but we had a place to rest — especially as I was still recovering from a c-section — and make use of all the facilities to cook proper meals, have a shower and be together.
Fundraising through the Long Walk Home
“Ari was still quite poorly for about six months after he left hospital, but now at two years old he’s completely fine — a happy and very cheeky little boy. We’re so grateful for all the support we received from The Sick Children’s Trust, and I wanted to give something back.
“When I saw the Home to Home challenge, I thought it was a great opportunity to get fit and raise some important funds so the charity can continue supporting families when they need it. I’ve loved doing the challenge, and having Ari, my daughter Isla and Scott all join me was really special. Without other people fundraising, we wouldn’t have been able to stay at Stevenson House — so I wanted to pay that support forward.”
More information about Lee’s fundraising can be found on her Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/page/lee-adams-25
